Every night I lie next to Max while he falls asleep*. (Top bed of double bunk, single mattress. Tiny!) After he falls asleep I gently excavate myself from under the duvet as not to wake him, carefully climb down from the top bunk and quietly leave his room. (Which sounds a lot more graceful than it is. I am more gangly giraffe than elegant elf. Picture a giraffe trying to quietly climb down from a top bunk without waking anyone. Awkward. Amusing. Gangly.) I know you are not supposed to do this (not sure why not?!), I know I ‘baby’ him too much especially seeing as he is five whole years old, but he is my last 'baby'. There are no more babies after this**. It is such a wonderful feeling when your busy little boy’s body goes limp with sleep next to yours. The love you feel for your child in that moment is almost indescribable. It is unspectacular, unseen moments like these that make realize how lucky I am to be a mother. And how fleeting these times are when our children are little and we can protect them from the world by holding them in our arms, literally and figuratively. I am feeling especially blessed tonight***

*This is what you miss out when you have twins. Having twins is wonderful and special and fantastic when they are older, but I really do believe that twin babies (especially twin newborns) is not ideal for either the mom or the babies. You miss out on that very special time when it is just you and the (one) baby. Holding your baby in your arms, staring into each other eyes. Intense, uninterrupted connection. They miss out on that too. Because there is always someone who is waiting to be fed / picked up / held etc. Maybe other twin moms did it better than I did, but I couldn’t manage that special one on one time when I had twin newborns. Whenever I had one in my arms, I felt guilty about the other one that wasn’t in my arms. I have really treasured these moments with Max. (Although, I LOVE having twins now as they have a 24/7 built in playdate. I wish Max had a twin to play with so that the playdate duty wouldn’t be mine!)

**As loving as I am feeling tonight, may I just say HALLELUJAH and praisethelord for that fact. NO MORE CHILDREN FOR ME. Three is my number. I am full up. Done. Neither my head nor my heart (or my bank balance / sanity / life) could cope with any more children.

***The loving feeling I am feeling right now might or might not have something to do with the two glasses of wine I have had + the fact that all my children are asleep + knowing it is Monday tomorrow and said children plus 1x husband will be at school and work tomorrow thereby allowing me to spend some quality time with myself. Yay!

Late update: Slight amendment to loving feeling. 1. One of aforementioned children got out of bed as they needed a number two. Which shouldn’t affect me and yet it does, because GO TO SLEEP! 2. Also, husband asleep already and SNORING. Loudly. Both of which have slight dampening effect on loving feeling. Will soldier on regardless.

Edited to add: It has been harder than we anticipated to get a visa for Rose to work overseas, so she is looking for a nanny job in Joburg instead. She is originally from JHB and is moving back home this weekend. Anyone know of someone who is looking for a Super Nanny in JHB?

Those of you who have been reading my blog for the past 10 years or so will know that my kids and I have been incredibly privileged to have a very special person in our lives to help raise my children. Rose joined our family a week before the twins were born to help me take care of them. (It was supposed to be a month and a bit before they were born but they decided to come early.)

I have often said that Rose is my special gift that I got after going through all the shit I did to have my children. It was as if the universe said “right, you have had an extra shitty time up until now, but here you go – I am sending you Rose to make up for all of that”. I am not sure what I would have done without Rose. Rose helped me so, so much, especially in the first year after the twins were born. Rose loved and cared for my children as if they were her own. In fact, my children believed that Rose’s surname was Albertyn for a long while because they totally thought she was part of our family. They have a mom, a dad and a Rose. If you look back at their family drawings, you will see Rose in all of them.

Rose has been my backup, my children’s other mother for 10 years. I am eternally grateful to her. But it is time for Rose to do something new; she is itching to take on a new chapter in her life. And as sad as that makes me, I fully support her in this. She wants to broaden her horizons and taken on new challenges. Plus her true love is newborns and little babies. She is just unbelievable with babies, and that is what makes her happiest. My children are getting bigger now and although she loves them very much, she needs a bit of a change. And she wants to travel overseas to experience new countries and cultures before she is old like me :)

So, I am putting it out there – Rose would like to be a nanny to a family overseas who need help to take care of a baby or two. Any time from the next month or two or three. I know that many South Africans Au Pair overseas for families abroad. It would be great for her to live overseas for a while, and any family who has Rose as their nanny will be getting the best person they could ever have dreamed of!! She is brilliant brilliant brilliant with kids, she is so hard working, reliable, honest, decent, clever. In return, you would have to accommodate her, pay her an appropriate salary and mostly, treat her with the respect she deserves. You would obviously have to find out what your country’s requirements are in terms of work visas etc. She doesn’t really mind where she goes. She is English speaking.

Please pass the word along to your friends or family if you know they could do with a Rose. I think everyone would love to have a Rose! Please email me to tertiaa @ gmail . com if you are keen.

I am writing this from 2937329732 miles above sea level, hopefully on my way home. It has been a great two weeks away, but I am so incredibly glad to be going home. I have missed my kids terribly.

I am too tired to spell check this blog post. Grammar police, this is going to be painful. If you are feeling stabby, I suggest you look away immediately.

I have a love-hate relationship with travel. Going away from home and my kids makes me anxious (surprise! XYZ makes me anxious, how novel), and yet it is such an honour and a privilege to be able to see more of the world. It really is such a gift to visit other countries and cultures. I love and hate going abroad.

I always learn a lot when I travel, some of it is old lessons, some are new. Things I learnt / observed:

Travelling overseas when you are a South African is PAINFUL. OMG things are expensive in Europe. People (Marko! Melany!) say you mustn’t convert but I can’t help myself. Sixty forking Ront for a cappuccino!! It costs R20 in South Africa. R40 for a coke. It costs a third of that in SA. Basically everything is 3x more expensive. I ordered a glass of wine at a not-terribly-posh place, it was 14 farking pounds. Two hundred and eighty ront (give or take a million) for a glass of wine!!!! I can buy three bottles of really, really nice wine for that price. I just couldn’t. In the end, I felt physically ill at how much things cost. I drove Marko mad. Poor guy. I really am a pain in the arse.

Germans are scary! Some really friendly people but also some really strict people! The customer service people were unfriendly and even shouted at people who knowingly or unknowing broke the rules (stepped over the line / went in the wrong queue). Shouted! Marko and I were too scared to ask for help in case someone shouted at us. Plus there was that whole jaywalking incident. So no, Munich is not my favourite place. (Of course, we have only seen a tiny part of Germany and I am sure the rest of Germany is lovely etc. Looked really pretty from the air).

I love London. It is dull and dreary sometimes, overcrowded, busy, frenetic, dirty and full of non-residents, but I love it. I love how small and big it is at the same time. I just hate the bloody exchange rate, but that is not London’s fault.

Priceline is a win! I have used Priceline a few times in a few cities across the world and you can get some good rates on accommodation. It suits me perfectly as there is nothing I love more than a bargain. Even if I don’t need it or want it, if it is a bargain, I am happy. I use Priceline to book 5 star accommodation (so I am never surprised by crappy hotels in crappy areas) which I get for 3 or 4 star pricing. Love it. We stayed in a lovely hotel in London which I would NEVER, EVER have paid full price for – are they mad!! Beautiful but expensive. I refused to eat breakfast there (breakfast for £35 for two on ‘special’. What!) We went downstairs to a coffee shop and had a perfectly good breakfast for two for £22. Also, I forbade Marko to even look at the mini bar. Marko unsupervised can be detrimental to the wallet.

The tube: Do Londoners even realize how lucky they are to have such excellent public transport?! What a total win to hop on and off as you need it. Sure it is hot and sweaty and full during peak times, but how fabulous that you have that as an option. Having said that, I am glad I don’t have to do it every day. Very useful for visitors though.

London is busy. OMG, it is busy. The tube stations were busy every single moment of every day. Crazy busy – there is always so much going on. People coming and going. Frenetic. Marko loved it, I started to get sensory overload after a while.

OPK (Other People’s Kids). As a parent to young children, you forget how annoying children can be. They are loud and busy (and my children are especially loud and busy) and I love children madly, but it is only when you are without your own kids that you realize what a pain (some, including my own I am sure) children can be. I actually feel sorry for those people who have to travel / eat out / catch public transport and are forced to deal with other people’s kids. I fully support having childfree sections on flights / areas / restaurants.

I miss my children very, very much and hate being apart from them. I never feel complete when I am without them.

Skype is great – I am not sure what travelling parents did before Skype. At least we could Skype several times a day. Which was mostly great and not so great when Adam would stalk me several times a day asking whether I had bought him any presents.

I am extremely grateful for my ‘village’ who look after my children while I am away. Rose, Jayde and my mom were awesome. I am so lucky.

I love my husband dearly, he is the most perfect husband for me in every way (and probably for many other people as well), but there is such a thing as too much quality time. Certainly for me. I desperately need alone time to reset my insides (head/heart/nerves/senses etc). Being together 24/7 in a hotel room can be a bit challenging for me. I wasn’t very nice to him sometimes. Luckily he loves me, in spite of me being a total over-sensitive, tight-arsed cow.

I have awesome friends. I went to stay with my beautiful, clever, class, generous friend Nicky for a night. She is a South African who lives in Bath in the UK. It was such a great experience, I am so glad I went. I got to experience a bit more of the UK besides London. So much history. I am glad I did it. I don’t usually like to stay over at anyone’s house (it makes me anxious – what if I don’t like it there? I will have to stay and then I will feel trapped and scared and sad and OMG am I five years old??!), but Nicky made it perfect for me. I am really, really glad I did it. I love Nicky.

I am an antisocial extrovert. I hate going out. I am not shy and I can chat to anyone, but I hate going out. I hate staying up late / going to clubs / going out / dressing up / wearing makeup / staying over. I LOVE staying home. I really love staying home. I think some people don’t believe me, but honestly – staying home is a 9/10, going out is a 1/10. The only reason why each option doesn’t have full marks is my fear that by not going out I am going to hurt someone’s feelings. If I didn’t think it would hurt someone’s feelings (by not going to that dinner party / visiting someone / going for a drink or coffee), I would choose staying home every time. I could stay home for the rest of my life.

Because our time in London was so short, I didn’t get to see any of my other friends. Which is a pity because I do love my friends. Kirsty, Juliette, Mandy, Lisa – sorry. At least I got to see my brother, albeit for a very short while.

Businesswise, the trip was a great success. I had two very good meetings, one in Germany and one in London that made the trip worthwhile from a financial point of view. Phew!! Can’t tell you how happy that makes me. I probably could have made the trip shorter by a week in terms of meetings / business, but unfortunately for me Marko booked the flights. Marko is the opposite of me when it comes to quality time / socializing / travelling / being away from home etc.

Funnily enough, at home Marko is the saver and I am the spender. He squirrels money away while I spend it all. On bills like the house bond, the school fees, salaries, food etc. So it is not like I am wasting it (a lot). But when we travel overseas, Marko likes to travel in style. I prefer to MOAN ABOUT HOW EXPENSIVE EVERYTHING IS.

Have I mentioned what a pain in the arse I am?

I love my home. I have missed home some much. I have missed my kids, my parents, my friends, my work, Woolies, salads, wine that doesn’t cost a forking fortune, biltong, my car, driving, I miss Cape Town. Cape Town is one of the best cities in the world, it certainly is one of the most beautiful. I know we have our problems, some of them are really big. But I love Cape Town. I love South Africa. And I love Africa. I can’t wait to touch down on African soil.

The husband and I are in Munich at the moment where I am attending a conference in a few days time.

(Someone asked whether we were on our second honeymoon - I replied that every day is like a second honeymoon with my husband. I was joking. Although it is quite nice to be alone together. Nice but weird. I miss my kids terribly and it has only been one day.)

Marko and I after our long flight, waiting to check in at the hotel. We were early but they very kindly allowed us to check in early. Hotel selfie!

I have never been to Germany before, even though my grandfather was from Germany. My grandfather and his family were German Jews who escaped the persecution during Hitler's reign of Germany. The family was split up, some ended up in America, some in South Africa. All the Loebenbergs in South Africa are family.

Today Marko and I visited Dachau, one of the first concentration camps established in Germany. It was an incredibly moving / painful / intense / overwhelming experience. But so important. Besides the personal connection I have through my father's family, I think it is very important not only to honour those who lost their lives in such a brutal way, but also to face up to man's inhumanity to man, to ensure that we never allow that to happen again. It is beyond comprehension how human beings can be so cruel. The suffering.... it is almost unbelievable. It was very painful to see that. I am still in disbelief. The executions were bad enough, but the suffering... the suffering was immense. Unspeakable. Appalling. I don't have the words.

I don't usually do tours because I hate being stuck somewhere I don't want to be. If I want to go home / back to the hotel, I want to go RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE. But it was a good tour, even if it was painful to see and hear. Excellent guide. Highly recommended: Radius Tours Munich

We were a smallish group who went on the tour. On the tour, a young woman started chatting to us. She said she recognized our accents. She was an American woman (probably around 20 years old?) who had extended family in South Africa. I was so impressed with this young woman! She was backpacking through Europe on her own. Going to several countries. Staying in hostels, meeting people. I was very impressed. How brave of her! All by herself. Her parents should be very proud of her. What a lovely, independent, brave young woman. (That makes me sound very old. Which I am.)

Munich is an interesting place. It isn't a pretty city (maybe I haven't seen enough of it yet) and it is bloody expensive!!! But then again, everything is expensive if you are South African. It is a friendly city though, interesting. So much history. People have been really helpful to us.

A tip to anyone visiting Munich / Germany - DO NOT JAYWALK! Marko and weren't even here for an hour when we were pulled over by the cops and fined for crossing the road before the green man came on. I thought Marko was going to have a heart attack! Eventually I had to tell him to go away because he was getting so cross. I didn't think it was a great idea to get into a fight with a German cop on day one. He was not a very warm, friendly person. But we were in the wrong and that is that. It was actually amusing, and made me realize how very different the culture is in South Africa compared to Germany. There is a strong regard for the rules / law here. In SA, not so much. Here in Germany you do not cross the road if the green man isn't on, even if there are no cars coming for miles. You vill not cross ze road!

Side note: Do other South African's also keep remarking "that would never work in South Africa" when they travel abroad? We keep seeing things and remarking how that would never work in South Africa. ('Honesty boxes' / Car2Go / leaving keys in the ignition / being fined for jaywalking... :) )

The thing I hate most about travelling (ok, second most - the thing I hate most is being away from my kids! I miss them terribly :( ) is that I can't eat my usual food. I am a creature of habit when it comes to food (and may I just say, that is a HUGE understatement. To the point of being decidedly odd) and so not being able to eat my usual food is a little concerning. I am sure if I had to travel far enough and spend enough, I could come close'ish to what I usually eat, but I have neither the time nor money to do so. So I am stuck eating a lot more carbs / processed food than I usually do. Which doesn't make me feel great. But anyway, let's not complain. (BTW, the Germans love their sausage! Especially a very scary looking white sausage that Marko and I are way too scared to try)

I miss my children terribly. I never feel complete if I am away from them. I miss them so much. Thank goodness for Skype! And thank goodness for so many people in my 'village' who are taking care of them while I am away.

But it's all good - I am getting to learn more about the world, about history, about other cultures and countries. And I am getting to spend quality time with the husband. Which is a good thing.

My children are getting so big. It feels like yesterday that they were tiny little babies. Some of them are growing up faster than others.

Adam is extremely cool. Almost too cool to be my little boy anymore. I have to be very quick about hugging him goodbye in the mornings at school. No obvious PDAs. (Whereas Kate will hug me, kiss me, tell me she loves me....)

This weekend Marko and Adam went away on a boys weekend to Durban to go to the Top Gear Car Show. GREAT excitement! Adam has been looking so forward to it.

Side note: It is amazing how different people affect the energy in the house differently. Things are so much more relaxed and easy when Marko and Adam aren't here. Adam is always bored / wants a sweet. He constantly needs stimulation. I can never sit and relax with Adam around because he will want or need something from me. Marko on the other hand is happy to sit and watch TV or play games on his iPad but he is super strict*, so when he is around things are a lot more tense. I have to worry about the kids behaving or else he will get cross and when he is cross it isn't fun for anyone, especially not me!! Between the two of them, it is impossible for me to relax. But when they aren't here, Max, Kate and I just chill. It is quite lovely and relaxing.

(In fact, every weekend Marko and Adam go out, to look at cars, or to the mall to walk around, have a coffee etc. It is a precious two hours or so for the rest of us :) )

Anyway, the boys left on Friday night late'ish (so of course I worry that Adam is going to be tired because the kids never stay up late - I am a firm believer in that kids need sleep and mother needs her time off!). On Saturday Marko sends a picture of Adam at the car show, very sweet. Very excited. And of course the first thing that goes through my mind is "I see he has his jacket on, I hope he is not too hot. I wonder if Marko said he must wear his jacket. Plus he has a vest on. I hope he will take it off if he is too hot. But what if he loses his jacket! Then Marko will be cross and Adam will be sad". And then I shouted at myself inside my head and said "STOP IT!!". Jeez, I can be a pathetic worrier sometimes (all the time).

Adam has been sending me Whatsapps the whole weekend which are so sweet. They are such a perfect mix between a big, cool boy and my little boy who misses his mom. So special. Also, I can't believe how well he writes! He writes like a big boy!

(Also - notice how I can't help myself and 'fuss' over him. I am a fart)

It is a strange feeling to watch your children grow up. Growing up means growing away from me. Which is good and healthy and important, but it is a little (VERY!!) sad for me. I am a very (overly) nurturing mother. I like to baby my children. Two of my kids love it. The third one is gently, slowly extricating himself away from the apron strings a bit. Big boy. I am so proud of him and the person he is becoming.

Here are some pics of Adam at the Top Gear show.

*It is just as well that Marko is 'super strict' as I am super not-strict. If it was just Marko, their lives would be a lot harder. If it was just me, they would be wild children. So just as well there are two of us around.

I am the drinker in the family. I am a dedicated, loyal, committed and consistent drinker. I drink 2-3 glasses of Chardonnay Every Single Night. Only Chardonnay. Every night. If there is no Chardonnay, I won't have anything else. There is never no Chardonnay though. And I drink alone because my husband doesn't drink. At all. Nothing. It works out wonderfully well because on the very rare occasion we go out, I always have a dedicated driver. Win!

Funny aside: We have a really impressive drinks cabinet at home with just about every type of drink you can imagine. Looking at it you would think either of us were big drinkers (we aren't. Except me and the Chardonnay) or that we entertained a lot (we don't). In actual fact the booze in the cabinet is so old that when my almost 18 year old happily discovered the treasure chest of booze, he found out that many of the bottles had actually expired. He offered to help us get rid of it. What a kind chap! I have tried to put a pic of him in front of the booze cabinet at the bottom of this post. Not sure I will get it right as I am working off an ipad app.

I am not particularly proud that I drink so much wine because CALORIES!! but at least I don't gamble/smoke/bite my nails/insert other bad habit here. She says, trying to fool herself that it's not that bad.

One would think that such an experienced drinker would like to go out and have a party now and then, have a few more drinks to let my hair down, but I don't. I only drink in the early evening until my dinner is finished. The last sip of wine is drunk just after the last bite of food. Even if the glass is half full (optimist!), I don't drink any more. I throw the rest of the glass of wine away. Because drinking wine after dinner makes me feel drunk. And I although I like tipsy / buzzy, I don't like drunk.

As I said, Marko doesn't drink. Except when we come to Umngazi. Then he makes up for lost time. He has the best time ever here. Every night after dinner he joins the other guests who like to let their hair down at the bar and they have a HUGE party. He probably has about 20 drinks. Gets back to bungalow wayyyy after midnight. As in closer to morning time than night time. There are a group of husbands here that get together every night in the bar and get up to all sorts of mischief. Climbing on the bar, swinging from the rafters, drawing on each other with permanent markers, having chair races.... I can't believe how silly drunk grown men are. Marko just sits there and laughs. He says his face aches from laughing so much.

I am so glad Marko is having fun. I am hugely anti social (I hate going out at night, love my bed and my house) and Marko doesn't have many guy friends who like to go out for a drink. So he never goes out, which is a pity as even though he is a quiet guy he is quite a sociable chap. This way he gets to let his hair down (in a big way) and I get to have my 2-3 glasses of wine and get into bed by 10. Win win.

I am actually really impressed with his social skills. He has met so many people here and they all seem to like him. I have met only a handful of people. Funny. At home I am the one who has to interact with people all the time and he is the quiet one. Here on holiday the roles are reversed. Very few people know me and everyone knows him. I lounge around on my own or with the kids and don't really interact with anyone. He is always chatting and interacting with everyone. I guess that is what holidays are all about. Taking a break from your usual life.

It's really great to see my husband having such a good time. It's good for him. And I am really happy he has found friends to stay up late with so that I don't have to! Sounds weird to say that you are proud of your husband for staying up late at the bar and interacting with a whole lot of very tipsy people, but I am proud. Part of it is that he gets to have fun and the other part is that other people get to find out what I already know. That if you get to know Marko (and you get past the slightly scary, strict exterior), he is a super fun, funny, kind person.

Here is Marko and some of his new BFFs at the bar yesterday. Before midday. Bottom pic is of my nephew and the booze cabinet

We are on holiday in our favourite place, Umngazi. http://www.umngazi.co.za/. It's our fifth year in a row, we love it here. It's the only place where I actually have a holiday as everything is done for you and it is totally focused on family-friendly holidaying. There is a separate dining room for the kids (with kid friendly food of course) plus you are able to hire a nanny to watch your kids while you lie by the pool sipping on your Chardonnay. It took me four years to relax enough to let the nanny actually look after Max but this year I just about got it right.

(Except, funny story.....: I am not a natural relaxer. Relaxing doesn't come easily for me. I have to work very hard to relax. This year I made a concerted effort to force myself to relax. I have not checked my email once and I have actually let the nanny look after Max for stretches of two hours at a time. I thought I was doing a pretty good job. But yesterday as I was speed walking (it's the only pace I know) between the sandpit and the lounge (just a quick peek to see whether Max was ok with nanny), one of the other guests grabbed my arm and said "do you ever slow down and relax?!" I stopped in my tracks and laughed. I realized that I was doing my rushing-at-100-miles-an-hour thing. He said "I have been watching you and you never sit still. Relax! You are on holiday". I laughed again and said "I know, but the kids....." They will be fine he said, relax! So hard for me to let go and relax. Teeny bit of a paranoid mom)

Today I gave the nanny a few minutes off to have some tea (my fave thing to do so that I can be with Max myself) and he and I were in the sandpit for 30 mins. I told him that we should go find Dad by the pool and lie down on the lounger. And off we walked. The pool is about 10 steps from the sandpit, just around the corner. Past the bar and entertainment area. As we were walking out the sandpit he said "ouch" and so I asked him if the sand was hot and he said yes. I turned my head back again and walked the 10 steps on to Marko. As I got to him I turned around and Max wasn't behind me. How irritating. Dawdling again. I walked back to the sandpit to tell him to hurry. He wasn't there. I looked in the entertainment area where he sometimes like to go to play with the snooker balls, not there. Back to the sandpit. Not there. I went to Marko to tell him that Max has just disappeared and he must help me look.

And we looked and looked and looked. Our friends started looking. Adam and Kate started looking. Our voices getting higher and higher pitched as we called his name. I started scanning the river to see if I could see anything. Dreading, absolutely dreading seeing something floating in the water. We looked every where. Up and down.

I was willing myself not to panic. I could see Marko starting to get scared. Every horrible scenario flashed through my head. He fell in the river. Someone saw that he was speech delayed and WAY too unshy and trusting and lured him off. Madeleine Maccann. This all obviously happened because I had been thinking how tough it is to have a child with developmental delays. I was feeling sorry for myself. I had brought this on myself.

Wild terror set in. We called in security to help us. They looked worried. 20 longest, scariest moments of my life.

And then Adam found him. On the toilet in the entertainment area. Making a poo. Waiting for me to come wipe his bum. "I was calling you and calling you Mama".

After wiping his butt I picked him up and bawled my eyes out. I sobbed and sobbed. My god. I don't panic easily but the longer it took, the more terrified I became.

Poor Kate. She was really upset to see me cry. I never cry in front of them. She tried to cheer me up by saying "at least if you lost Max you would still have two children left". I laughed through my tears. "I know my girl, but I would really like to keep all three of my children" I replied. "But you are always saying how hard it is to have three children? she says" Oops! Yes I do say that. (Because 3 kids does = v hard!) "yes, three kids is hard but I love you all very much and I want to keep all three of you".

It's ironic, because I am the most paranoid parent ever. So for me to "lose" a child is crazy. I usually watch them like a hawk. Especially Max because he is how he is. Thing is, things happen so quickly.

I felt sick afterwards. I still do. I am so very, very, very thankful he is ok.

If I had to pick only one word to use to describe Adam, it would be 'kind'. He is such a kind-hearted, kind-spirited child. He is my sweet, loving, kind boy. He will offer you his last sweet, his seat, his turn. (Whereas his twin sister - not so much). I was reading through our Whatsapp messages* last night and it made me smile:

2014/01/07, 6:40:36: Tertia: Morning birthday boy :)

2014/01/07, 6:41:43: Adam: Thanks mom

2014/01/07, 11:42:47: Adam: Mom I am hot and David

2014/01/07, 11:43:05: Tertia: You are hot?

2014/01/07, 11:45:10: Adam: I am hot because I have been running around. We also went on xrider

2014/01/07, 11:46:54: Tertia: Are you having fun?

2014/01/07, 11:47:18: Adam: Yes

2014/01/07, 11:47:45: Tertia: Good :)

2014/01/07, 11:47:54: Tertia: ❤️

2014/01/07, 11:49:08: Adam: Love you

2014/01/07, 11:49:30: Tertia: Love you too 👍

2014/01/07, 11:50:20: Adam: Bye mom

2014/01/07, 11:54:09: Tertia: Bye boy

2014/01/07, 11:54:52: Adam: See you later

2014/01/07, 11:55:33: Tertia: Yes

2014/01/08, 11:19:20: Adam: Hi mom

2014/01/08, 11:25:30: Tertia: Hi boy. What you doing?

2014/01/08, 11:28:41: Adam: We at movies waiting for popcorn

2014/01/08, 11:28:52: Tertia: Cool. Enjoy it!

2014/01/08, 11:29:09: Adam: Ok

2014/01/08, 11:49:01: Adam: Love you

2014/01/08, 11:49:28: Tertia: Love you too

2014/01/08, 13:37:18: Adam: Mom we are on are on our way home

2014/01/08, 13:40:11: Tertia: Looking forward to seeing you.

2014/01/08, 16:24:28: Tertia: Hi

2014/01/09, 8:49:44: Adam: Hi

2014/01/09, 8:52:10: Tertia: Hi boy. What u doing?

2014/01/09, 9:00:49: Adam: We are playing on our I Pashtun

2014/01/09, 9:03:41: Adam: Mom what cheese do I eat

2014/01/09, 9:09:15: Tertia: Gouda

2014/01/09, 9:29:32: Adam: Mom where is my j board

2014/01/09, 12:14:39: Adam: Mom I am loving my phone

2014/01/13, 17:05:12: Adam: Mom I am at Mimi's house and now we are going the shops

2014/01/13, 17:06:52: Tertia: Good boy. Enjoy. Xx

2014/01/13, 17:53:25: Tertia: Are you home now?

2014/01/13, 20:24:19: Tertia: Sleep tight. Love you ❤️❤️❤️❤️

2014/01/13, 21:04:24: Adam: Good night mom love you

2014/01/14, 7:46:24: Tertia: Morning

2014/02/08, 17:24:34: Tertia: Hey boy, you having fun?

2014/02/08, 20:30:12: Tertia: I hope you are having a lovely time. Sleep tight. I love you ❤️❤️

* The twins got (hand-me-down) iPhones for their birthday because I want to be able to contact them when they are out / at sleep overs. It has proven to be very useful.

PS Even though he is very kind and sweet and he loves his mom, he is also very cool and so I am not allowed to do any PDAs at school anymore. No obvious hugging to say goodbye in the morning in case I ruin his cred. Which makes these messages even more precious.

Kate cares less what other people might think and so I get lots of hugs and kisses when I say goodbye in the morning.